


Trust

by ivydurden



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 14:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13320246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivydurden/pseuds/ivydurden
Summary: After the night they shared together, Jon and Daenerys had a matter of disagreement. Tyrion tries his best to find out and force them to make amends.





	Trust

 

Tyrion had spent the entire morning trying to talk to his Queen. Daenerys had done her best to avoid him, finding excuses to make his company unnecessary, with larger matters to discuss to whomever was beside her when it was convenient. It had come to a point that Tyrion finally understood it was useless to insist on talking directly to her. There was another part involved, though, that might not be as dismissive as she was.

Tyrion marched his way to find Jon Snow on the boat they were travelling. He could see him talking to the ship’s captain from a distance. The winds were steady when the captain had finally left the northerner alone. For a moment, Tyrion observed him brooding over the ocean waves. It was almost poetic, he thought, as if these lovers weren’t doomed from the moment they had laid eyes on each other. They were so alike, after all.

Tyrion calmly made his way to him. He could tell Jon noticed, but didn’t give him much attention either way. "My lord, we have a matter to discuss." Tyrion announced himself. Jon didn’t look away from the cold waters beneath them, the cold winds of winter blowing in his raven hair. He still said nothing, in his serious pose. But Tyrion had no doubts to whether he heard him, so he took it as a permission to continue his speech. "I think that during a political crisis like this one, entanglements are more likely to happen. We seem to make decisions in the heat of the moment." Jon finally looked back to him, as if the dwarf had suddenly interrupted his one moment of serenity.

"Get to the point, Tyrion. I already know what you are referring to." Jon did hate to be small talked, Tyrion was well aware of that.

"I am the most joyous person in the world regarding your recent alliance. Even more when it comes to romance." Jon looked away from him, possibly irritated or hurt, somehow. Tyrion couldn’t tell why exactly he would be, but he could sense something was wrong. "But I do not think it is wise to do such without a marriage."

"We will get married." Jon said to him, catching him by surprise. It was a very brief relief. "Once the Queen feels like it."

"What?" That was something Tyrion was not expecting. He was expecting them to try and be slick about it, hide, as if it weren’t the right decision to be made. It wasn’t, it was reckless, even if there was a ceremony in the first place. But it was too late to turn back, they made that decision when they slept together in her cabin. They both knew of this.

But Jon wasn’t so pleased when talking of the matter. "Haven't you spoken to her? I thought you were her counselor." Jon did have a point.  

"She did not want to see me." He admitted. "I suspect now I know the answer to that." They were both silent, looking at the waves crashing on the starboard of the boat. Tyrion wanted to ask what had happened between them, but he knew it was a question he had no right of asking and less right to knowing the answer. Jon wouldn’t be the one to tell him any of it. He was the most discreet of both.

Jon finally took a deep breath, but still didn’t look directly to him. "I do intend on marrying her, Tyrion. You have my word on this."  

Tyrion smiled lightly. He was an honored man after all. "I never doubted your intentions."

“You should speak to her." Jon turned to him, now readying himself to leave the deck.

"I should." Tyrion was still half smiling. It was a melancholic one, as much as he was happy for Jon, as he was Daenerys’ best suitor, he was also thinking on the storm that was waiting for them.

Jon gave him an understanding smile, because he too had the same thoughts in his mind, and left.

 

* * *

 

Tyrion hated ship meals. They were always too salty and all the attempts to make it taste slightly better only made the taste worse. He chugged it all down with a large cup of rum, because he had to eat somehow, and went on his way to complete his quest.

He found Daenerys in front of her own cabin, talking to some fellow crewmen about the weather. Missandei was by her side as always, and her eyes quickly denounced his arrival. Daenerys caught on this and tried her best to ignore his presence.

"My Queen, if I may have a word with you?" Tyrion said.

Dany didn’t look at him when she spoke. "Not now, I am busy at the moment."

"I can see that, you have been avoiding me all day." The conversation Tyrion had shared with Jon got him even more curious of what was really happening between them.

Daenerys understood that there was no use of escaping the subject any longer, so she orders all the men to leave. Missandei was to follow them, but Daenerys signals her to stay.

"I believe the conversation is more appropriate in private." Tyrion said, with a half nervous smile. He trusted Missandei, but didn’t know if it was wise to share the recent event with her just yet.

"Missandei is not going anywhere, Tyrion. Get on with it." He smiled when he thought that almost the same phrase came out of Jon’s mouth. She too had no patience for small talk, but at least she was more talkative than her future better half. Daenerys led them inside her cabin and Missandei closed the doors.

"If you insist." Tyrion was thinking very hardly on how to approach the subject at matter. He knew Daenerys thought highly of herself, and could often be inflexible in her opinions. She was unpredictable, just like the sea. "I believe all of us have reason to celebrate your alliance with Lord Snow. Both of us are very affectionate towards him." She groans, in annoyance. "It is however, my job to counsel you on any inappropriate decisions."

He knew she already had the answer on the tip of her tongue, ready to come out. "You do not have to counsel me on who I decide to be intimate with."

And he had arguments of his own. "You know very well this is not the case. I have spoken to Lord Snow."

Daenerys still seemed annoyed, but saying his name definitely spiked her attention, even though she tried her best to hide it. "And?"

"He told me he intends on marrying you." Tyrion said, picking up a cup on her table and pouring himself some wine. Missandei was caught by surprise as well.

Daenerys looked unaffected by his words. That was information she already knew, therefore, not that interesting. "Well that certainly seems to be his intention." She said as she sat down on one of her chairs beside the table he was drinking.

"And what are _your_ intentions?" He asked her. It was an intimate moment for both, even if Missandei was still there. Tyrion acknowledged her, giving her the other chair to sit. She did as much.

"I have no desire of marrying him." Daenerys looked away to the window beside her bed.

Tyrion tried his best to understand what she wanted from this. She wasn’t a reckless child; her decisions had meaning. Why did she decide to sleep with Snow if she has no intention on marrying him? Why was she afraid of marrying him in the first place, was it not what she wanted? A strong, military alliance. "Why not?"

She swallowed hard and met his gaze. "I don’t want to discuss this anymore."

"This is not the right move. Is he not worthy?" Tyrion had to know the answer. Jon Snow was trustworthy, the best candidate for marriage the Seven Kingdoms had to offer. And even if there were other candidates, any other would not top him.

Daenerys was still avoiding his eyes, because she knew he was studying every move of hers to make her admit the truth. "He has proved his worth, numerous times. He is an honorable man. But his character is not the case."

Tyrion took a sip of his drink. "You must understand what this implicates to the northerners. I have told you once before, they are proud people. If they believe that Jon has the possibility of sitting on the Iron Throne..."

She looked directly in his eyes. "He will never sit on the Iron Throne. It's not his to sit. He has made no claim."

Was that what she was afraid of all this time?

"If I may, your grace." Missandei suddenly spoke up. Both looked towards her. "What Lord Tyrion means to say is that a marriage is expected, rumors of romance would undermine both of your positions as leaders." Tyrion knew Missandei was smarter than she ever admitted. He smiled proudly and took now a huge sip of his cup before saying his next phrase.

"The whore and the northern idiot." Both women looked to him with furiousness in their eyes.

"Excuse me?”

"If you were shocked by what I just said, keep in mind that the words of the rumors would be harsher than this." Tyrion said.

Daenerys looked to Missandei, irritated. She had enough of this. Missandei consented and Dany stood up, not looking at him anymore.

"Please take what I've said into consideration." Tyrion said, preparing himself to walk out of the room.

"I have made up my mind." She said. Tyrion took this as a signal to leave.

 

* * *

 

Daenerys was alone in her cabin. This night was already slightly colder than the night before. They were getting closer to northern shores each day and she still hadn’t grown tired of hearing the ocean beside her window.

She did desire sex. It was something she had grown to enjoy, even with Drogo. She enjoyed it even more when she realized it was all about power. Drogo had power over her, she had power over Daario. But what happened between her and Jon wasn’t about that. It was different. With Jon, they were equals.

Daenerys looked over to her door. Would he come this night? She started to think, but decided to ignore all those hopeful feelings. Jon Snow was in love with her, Tyrion was right. But was she in love with him? Her heart started to ache. It would be a funny thing, when she had finally gotten this close to claim the Seven Kingdoms there was a man in the way. Daenerys wasn’t this type of woman, to let a man determine what she had to do.

She did look at the door one more time. A man would not get in her way, but a war might. This might be her last path, she thought. Maybe she wouldn’t come back from the North, not of love, of course not; loving him wasn’t enough to make her back down from the throne. But the war taking everything from her, maybe even her life, might make her claim more difficult or even impossible.

And there she was, heading to the North. Not because of Jon, as much as he had a huge part of it, but because there were people to save. There were more enemies to defeat than she could’ve ever imagined. It could as well be their last nights of peace and quiet they would have in months.

So why hadn’t he knocked on her door again? As humble as she tried to be, there were still high standards she had aspired to become, someone that wasn’t easily ignored. Daenerys knew she was beautiful and that the rumors weren’t even close to doing her justice. Had he not desired her?

It was silly to doubt that. Jon was a proud man, and he probably felt humiliated after she was so determined of not marrying him. But that was it? He wasn’t going to fight for her? Men were used to fighting for her, dying for her. Jon Snow did those things, but not for her heart.

She looked at the doors one more time. She wouldn’t be the one to go. Jon needed to fight for her. But on that night, he didn’t.

 

* * *

 

Daenerys was feeling the wind blow on her braided hair. Missandei wasn’t by her side, so Dany was just wasting her time observing the ship she was boarded. She knew all of the men’s names – it was something she was decided to do, to value to whomever was serving her. The crew wasn’t that big, so it was easy to remember each one.

Daenerys’ eyes caught sight of him on the other side of the boat, speaking to one of the crewmen. Jon also knew their names, not of effort, but because it came naturally to him to know his own men. She observed him have a thoughtful and laughing conversation with one of them, William was his name. Jon wasn’t used to leading, they had told her, he was chosen. Just as she was.

Jon was unaware that she had been looking towards them for the last couple of minutes. So when his conversation to Will ended, he finally looked to her, almost by accident. His lightheaded expression after talking to the crew was gone the moment he laid eyes on her. His eyes turned serious, still tender, but somewhat hurt. Jon looked away when her eyes were still lingering on, desperate to meet his again. He did not look to her again.

She was proud, so she looked away, almost offended. But it had been her choice to avoid him, she had to keep in mind. Their involvement a few nights before was an impulsive decision, and he had made his intentions clear. But she had no intention of going any further.

When she returned to her cabin at night, she couldn’t help to wait again for him to knock. It had already been hours and he again didn't come. Was Jon Snow a coward, would he not fight for her? Jorah would, she thought. But Jorah worshipped her, unlike Jon. Jon also knew enough to not bend the knee more than twice.

 It still made her frustrated that he was capable of giving up this easily. There she was, awake almost all night thinking about _Jon Snow_. Should she feel pathetic? No, this was not a weakness, she thought. Weakness comes when she lets her feelings get in the way of her decisions. This was not the case – she desired him, of course, but her claim to the Iron Throne hadn’t changed. But she was still surprised that one more night had passed and he didn’t even come looking for her again.

She was in her silk robes, hair down, and the made the impulsive decision of leaving her own cabin to meet in his. She couldn't stand the thought that this man was challenging her like this. Was he this proud, as if he hadn't sought her so desperately a couple of nights before? She would confront him and demand respect. She was not his to do as he pleased, to then choose to ignore.

Daenerys didn’t hesitate before knocking on his door. When he opened, his expression was of complete astonishment that she was there, standing in front of him. That almost made Dany feel relieved to have that effect on him, though she already knew that before, it was good to have it confirmed once again. Jon’s eyes traveled her body, the one he had grown used to the nights before. She could see his mind racing and asking himself every sort of questions to why she was there.

She was quicker than him, letting herself inside without him thinking quickly enough to even open the door for her. She went in as if she owned the place, which wasn’t completely untrue. There was a calm and proud expression on her face, she could feel it, as if it were a victory. No man walked away from her.

He closed the door and cleared his throat, and stared at her as if he were asking permission for the next move.

"I haven't come here with those intentions, Jon." She said, calmly. She hadn’t – all she wanted was to see if he still desired her. Daenerys didn’t understand completely herself why she had gone to his cabin. Deep in her heart, she knew that all she wanted was to make their alliance strong once again, and to not let the night they shared together to get in her way. Those truly were her intentions, even though they came out a little different than she had expected herself.

Jon was tense, but nodded in agreement. Even though his mind had drifted to the possibility of them sharing his bed, he knew her intentions wouldn’t have been that easily revealed. He couldn’t help but looking at her fondly, since she had gotten out of her way to meet him in the middle of the night.

"I haven't changed my mind." He said, now firmly. This was something that caught her by surprise, even though she should’ve been expecting it. To be fair, she had hoped he would be lusting her by now. But that wasn’t like him.

"I won't marry you, Jon. It is not the time." Daenerys finally said. She tried to look at his eyes, to tell him, with words unsaid, that she did appreciate who he was and what he was trying to do. That it was honorable, even though she wouldn’t accept it. His eyes, though, didn’t return the sentiment.

"I don't care about the time." Jon said. He wanted to say much more, she could tell, but he wasn’t as outspoken as her. He was an enigma. Jon thought too much and said too little.

"You don't know half of what I've been through. I have done political marriages before. I do not want to be part of one this time." Daenerys finally let out. He was confused to hear those bitter words and let out a disappointed sigh.

"I shouldn't have gone to your cabin the night before." Jon finally said. Those words hurt her like a knife. Daenerys shrunk. It was incredible how she never had felt entitled to love before; she had always had it in her hands or taken it by force, the control of the situation was always in her hands. But then again, this had been her decision, hadn’t it?  

"Then it’s over then." She admitted it, her eyes starting to water. Her heart was aching, she couldn’t bear to look at him one more time, because he was just as broken as her. Jon was struggling himself, she could tell it wasn’t the thing he wanted to do. But she would not back down, and he didn’t want this relationship to linger on without it being properly addressed. A little too late for that, though, since it had already been consummated.

"Only if the witch was right." He said, looking for her gaze. Jon wasn’t a coward.

But Daenerys just stared at him in confusion, picking up the pieces of everything he was telling her with just a simple sentence. He was still insisting that she could get pregnant? That would be the joke of the century, she thought; that all these years suffering because she thought she was barren, only to discover she was not.

"When you were introduced to me, your title list was a page long, at least." He said, smiling, remembering that moment. She listened carefully to his words. They could never imagine that their relationship would ever become this complicated. "While I was introduced to you as a bastard."

He said nothing more. It finally struck her like a thousand stones. He came into her cabin before because he loved her, it was true. She had no doubt of this. But Daenerys also hadn’t imagined what that moment truly said about him. It wasn’t just about love, but about trust. She had never given more than enough thought to his condition, to his titles, to who he was. And he was a bastard.

_He would never father one._

Daenerys swallowed hard, pondering her next words. She would not back down. "Marriages implicate a lot of things, Jon Snow." She looked at him, his eyes were firm, but also somewhat hopeful. That broke her heart, but she had to remain strong. Her decision had been made long before he walked inside her cabin. "In Westeros, a woman never has more claim to the Iron Throne than a man."

"I do not care for the Iron Throne." He told her.

"I care." Daenerys said, taking his hands in hers to assure him that the decision she made was not an easy one. "The traditions here will strip me out of it.” She couldn’t be a Queen if he were to be the King. They would never accept her fully. Daenerys didn’t want to rely on him for her claim.

 "Cersei is a Queen even without a rightful claim." He said. She hadn’t given much thought into how Cersei got the Throne to herself, beside the fact that she was currently occupying it. She honestly just assumed the woman was unfortunate to be the only one left, but didn’t take into account that she might have taken it by force. In her own ways, at least.

Dany remained quiet for a moment, thinking about what he had just said to her. It was possible that he had a point, but her power would still be weakened if he was her King.

"I'm changing what I just said." He said, and she looked up to him. Jon was not backing down. "I do care about the Iron Throne. I care of who sits on it, and that person has to be you." Jon was devoted to her, he believed in her. "If deep in your heart you doubt my words, say it to me. Do you doubt me?"

It didn’t take much for her to say, "No."

Daenerys knew he was true to his words. He had no desire for the Iron Throne, she knew this the moment he decided not to bend the knee, as conflicting as it might have seemed. There were other things far more important to him. And in the middle of all of this, they loved each other, even if they haven’t said the words directly.

Daenerys knew of this. Jon knew of this. 

So that night, they laid together once more.

Daenerys was curled by his side, fingers touching all the scars on his chest. His arm was resting around her. All they could think of was of how comfortable they felt and how well they fit together. It was the kind of peace they aimed to cherish while it was still possible.

"When I was sold as a bride for the Dorthrakis, I dreamt about sitting on the Iron Throne.” Dany started to say. Jon looked over to her while playing with her silver hair. “Every rape, every strike on my body made me dream even more strongly of it. I wanted to be a Queen. Not Khal Drogo’s Queen. But to take back what was mine by right." He nodded in agreement. "All the leaders I've dealt with in Qarth, Mereen, every master in every city. They had no love for their people. They were never fit to rule. I was." She finally said. Jon sighed and looked away from her, taking in every sentence she had just said.  "But I will not rule alone." Dany looked up to him.

Jon tried to catch her eyes, to understand the words she just had said. He breathed in deeply, realizing everything that it meant, and a small smile formed on his lips. "You will be the one to sit on the Iron Throne."

Daenerys let out a chuckle while placing a small peck on his lips. "Perhaps we should forge you one." And Jon laughed with her.


End file.
